


Christmas Spirit

by twinsarein



Category: Smallville
Genre: Christmas, Future Fic, Holiday, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-24
Updated: 2009-12-24
Packaged: 2017-10-09 16:18:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/89307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twinsarein/pseuds/twinsarein
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clark and Lex get ready to share their first Christmas together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Christmas Spirit

Clark stretches to put the last ornament in the empty space he spies near the top of the tree. Stepping back to take it all in, he feels Lex's arms wrap around his waist from behind. Leaning back in pleasure, Clark then twists his body slightly so he can put his own arms around Lex.

Together, they contemplate the beautiful tree in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

After several minutes, Lex squeezes a little tighter, and then leans away just enough to really see Clark's face. He drinks in the chiseled features with pleasure. Clark looks at him quizzically, and Lex finds himself opening up before he even realizes it. "I still have a hard time believing that, in spite of everything, we found our way back to each other. It's a miracle, Clark."

Clark smiles down at his old nemesis. "This is the season for them, Lex. But, after all you've done to crawl out of the abyss you'd sunken into, you deserve any miracle you get." Clark looks away and bites his lip for a moment. "I'm the one who doesn't deserve them, deserve you. I once told Jimmy Olsen that I don't give up, but that was I lie. I gave up on you long before I said that, and left you to fight your battle alone."

Grasping Clark's head, Lex guides it back around to him and lays a gentle kiss on the full lips. "Enough, Clark. You've forgiven me for everything I've done; I've forgiven you for everything you've done. Now, it's time for us to forgive ourselves. I think that will be much harder than anything else, but this time we don't have to do it alone."

Feeling his heart swell with love for this man even more, Clark slides a gentle hand around to cup the back of his head and pull him in for a deep, satisfying kiss. They break apart, both a little short of breath, and Clark buries his face in Lex's neck.

Lex's hand caressing his hair has Clark burrowing even closer. Lex chuckles quietly in his ear, but then kisses his cheek and pulls back. "Shall we finish our book?"

Clark simply nods his head, but the light in his eyes belies his subdued reaction.

Lex's own eyes lit up at the thought of finishing the ritual they started four nights ago.  "I've laid out a fire. Can you…?"

His hand waving at the fireplace clues in Clark quickly. "Of course." Lowering his glasses, Clark stares at the logs, and a fire suddenly springs into existence.

Lex smiles, but it falters when he looks back at Clark. He makes a vague gesture at his face. "Do you have to wear those while we're in our home?"

The question is asked mildly enough, but Clark can hear the uncertainty buried deep. Uncertainty born of so many years of lies between them. Reaching up, Clark slides the glasses from his face. "Sorry, Lex. It's just habit. I'm so glad I don't have to hide myself from you anymore."

The smile that breaks over Lex's face is something that Clark hopes he'll see a lot in the years to come, and he's happy that he's finally the one that can put such a look there.

Quickly, Lex struggles to arrange his features more neutrally, but Clark reaches out and strokes the backs of his fingers over a smooth cheek. "Lex, don't. Please. You don't have to hide yourself from me anymore, either."

This time, when the smile stretches Lex's face wide, he lets it stay there until it fades naturally.

Unable to resist, Clark leans down to capture those smiling lips in another kiss. 

With a small laugh, Lex breaks off. "Book, Clark, or we'll never finish before Christmas. It's only a few hours away."

Walking over to the long, wide couch he'd bought after their first attempt to read together a few nights ago, Lex makes himself comfortable. He leans a little against the armrest and makes plenty of room for Clark. One leg he rests against the back of the couch, and he plants the foot of the other on the floor.

Smiling eagerly, Clark grabs the book, and settles in the vee of Lex's legs, his head resting on Lex's chest, right above his heart. Lex's arms come around him and Clark burrows backwards a little. Lex's mouth is right above his ear, and Clark turns his head to kiss the rounded chin softly, before opening the book to the last chapter.

"'I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future!' Scrooge repeated, as he scrambled out of bed. 'The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. Oh, Jacob Marley! Heaven, and the Christmas Time be praised for this! I say it on my knees, old Jacob, on my knees!'"

Clark continues reading in his clear baritone, switching off with Lex when he gets to the end of a page, and then taking it up again at the beginning of the next. He also keeps an eye on the fire to make sure it doesn't go out. If he sees it struggling, then he gives it a quick boost. 

Every few paragraphs one or the other turns his head and lay a kiss on the other. With Clark holding the book, however, Lex has more freedom with his hands. He uses that freedom to pet Clark's chest, to caress the back of his hands, or to stroke along his strong jaw line.

Clark can't remember the last time he'd been this happy and content.

The last page of the book is short, but Lex reads with the same passion he puts into everything. "He had no further intercourse with Spirits, but lived upon the Total Abstinence Principle, ever afterwards; and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One!"

Lex falls silent, and Clark closes the book and gently lays it on the floor beside the couch. As soon as his hands are free, he reaches for Lex's arms and pulls them around himself. "Thank you for sharing that story with me, Lex. I can't believe I've never read it."

Lex brushes the side of Clark's head with his cheek, loving the feel of the soft hair against his skin. "I'm surprised it was never assigned reading at your school."

Clark chuckles. "Your private school background is showing. It's a story of Christmas. A public school would have a hard time selling that book as a classroom reading project."

Lex shakes his head. "That's a shame. It's about so much more than Christmas."

"Public schools do have it rough, trying to please the people in the communities they serve, plus the government. Still, I liked it, and I really enjoyed reading it with you. It was a wonderful way to get in the Christmas spirit and enjoy some time together."

Lex tightens his arms around Clark for a long minute. "Do you think it makes a good parallel for how…"

"No!" Clark gently and reluctantly untangles himself from Lex and twists until he's kneeling between Lex's legs. He sits back on his haunches so he doesn't tower over the older man so much.

Startled by the emphatic statement and the abrupt change of position, Lex momentarily falls silent.   Only momentarily, however. "No? You don't even know what I was going to say."

Clark looks at Lex mutinously. "Yes, I do. You were going to compare yourself to Scrooge. But, I don't think you should sell yourself short like that. You're a much stronger person than he was."

Lex twists his lips into a moue of disbelief. "C'mon, Clark…"

"No, Lex. There might be a superficial resemblance to the way you and he slid into unsavory behavior, but no more than that. Scrooge always had people who were there for him, that believed in him, no matter how often he pushed them away. First, there was his sister, Fan, then his nephew, Fred. Even his old business partner, Marley, was there for him in the end. You've always had no one. He chose to throw away love; you've always looked for it."

Lex tries to interrupt the diatribe with a joking, "Yes, I've chased it most frequently at as many dissolute parties as I could," but Clark continues speaking right over him.

"Scrooge was only able to change after he was visited by three Spirits; you've worked hard and done it all on your own. I'm also not convinced that Scrooge's change was fueled by anything more than a fear of his own death. You had no such fear motivating you, just a desire to make yourself a better man. _A Christmas Carol_ is a fantastic story, but it's no parallel for your own life or accomplishments. As I said, you shouldn't sell yourself short like that. Not ever."

Lex clenches his hands into fists, relishing the bite of pain as he tries to blink his eyes dry. His heart feels constricted, and he tries to still his harsh breathing.   "Clark…" Lex stops to clear his throat, voice gravelly with emotion. "I…I don't know what to say. No one has **ever**…"

Clark reaches out and caresses the side of Lex's face, a sad smile on his own lips. "Maybe no one ever has before, but that's going to change from now on. I'm here, and I always will be. I'll never make the mistake of giving up on you or leaving you again."

Lex gets his legs under him and surges forward, grasping both of Clark's hands in his. "I love you, Clark Kent, and I'll work for the rest of my life to deserve you."

Bringing one of Lex's hands to his mouth, Clark brushes a kiss along the knuckles. "I love you, Lex Luthor, and you don't have to do anything to deserve me. Just let me be here for you, for the rest of our lives."

They sit almost completely still, just staring at each other in silence, too overwhelmed by emotion to say anything else. Then, somewhere in the room, a clock starts to chime the midnight hour and breaks the spell that their overwhelming love had woven around them.

"Merry Christmas, Clark."

"Merry Christmas, Lex."

As one, they move to close the scant space between them and embrace. The only sounds to be heard for a long time after that are sweet sighs, quiet moans, and the crackling of the fire.

  
  



End file.
